HSE experts discuss origin, success of Houston Area Safety Council

The Houston Area Safety Council (HASC) was born in 1990 has grown to become the largest safety and training council of its kind in the United States. This year marks its 24th anniversary servicing the Texas Gulf Coast and beyond. Not only does the association facilitate and simplify the training process for employers, it serves as an integrated industry solution organization for 3,000 member companies and an additional 12,000 non-member companies.

Prior to its inception, a few catastrophic events took place in the Gulf Coast area.

“In 1987 in Texas City, we had a gas release that caused the evacuation of much of Texas City. We had a major polyethylene explosion in Pasadena that killed 23 people in 1989. Then in 1990, across the channel at a plant, we had an explosion that killed another 17 people. That’s catastrophic. That caused us to pay attention,” said Bennett Ghormley, owner and co-founder of Zero Injury Institute and one of the original members of HASC.

As a panel member discussing the evolution and merits of the HASC, Ghormley addressed delegates at the 2017 Houston Ship Channel’s Contractor Safety Panel Luncheon and Reverse Trade Show held recently in Deer Park, Texas.

As he discussed HASC’s inception and growth, other panelists chimed in, including Russell Klinegardner, HASC’s chief operating officer; Gary Noto, chief executive officer for HydroChem; Steve Trickle, vice president of safety, health and environment at the Zachry Group; and Bill Shaw, a certified safety and health official and vice president of health, safety and environmental at Evergreen Industrial Services.

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